Japanese Technique Creates Mini Woodland in South Oxhey

A mini woodland was created in South Oxhey Playing Fields using a Japanese botanical technique.

The volunteers involved in planting the 1,500 trees for this project included Hertfordshire County Council’s Countryside Management Service, County Councillors, personnel from Northwood Headquarters as well as Cllr Stephen King- Chair of district council, Cllr Sarah Nelmes- Deputy Leader and Armed Forces Champion, and Cllr Jon Tankard, Lead Member for Climate Change and Sustainability.

The technique used to create these mini woodlands is called the Miyawaki Method and was developed by the Japanese botanist Dr. Akira Miyawaki, in the 1970s and involves the dense planting of native species on open land or degraded soil areas, creating fast growing and self-sustaining woodlands.

The ground was turned over before planting and had large amounts of compost added to it in order to accelerate the development of the ecosystem and deliver long term environmental benefits.

Cllr Jon Tankard tells Three Rivers District Council that “this is the first time we have trialled the Miyawaki Method after seeing it being used successfully in urban areas in other parts of Britain and Europe.”

“The soil at South Oxhey Playing Fields is poor quality, making it the perfect place to test this method where we hope it will help restore the local ecosystem… for our residents and visitors to enjoy.”

“I would like to thank everyone who came to help plant the trees for their hard work and dedication, which I am sure our residents are very grateful and thankful for.”

There was a wide variety of trees planted including English Oak, Wild Cherry, and Sweet Chestnut trees.